Jacobs Media and Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) are inviting all Christian music-based radio stations to participate in our fifth annual CMB Techsurvey. On the heels of our previous 13 annual all-format Techsurveys, we’ve learned that Christian Radio listeners have unique needs and interests that led us to create this stand-alone study.

“For the past five years, Christian Music Broadcasters has partnered with Jacobs Media to provide one of the best research opportunities for radio, the CMB Techsurvey,” notes Michelle Younkman, CMB Executive Director. The stations who have participated every year have a phenomenal trend pattern. They can see how their station continues to impact their listeners on a variety of levels. The survey also helps stations identify areas for future growth. For stations who are looking for a cost-effective way to generate in-depth research on how your listeners are engaging with your station, there is no better value than the CMB Techsurvey 2018. It is CMB’s vision to see Christian music radio grow and this is an invaluable tool to help stations reach more people.”

Our goal in working with CMB is to create a survey that helps enlighten and inform Christian music broadcasters about how their audience is using technology to interact with friends, family and with radio. We want to identify the opportunities that exist in the digital space for growth, membership development, and better communication with your key listeners, to help you decide where to invest time, resources, and personnel.

CMB Techsurvey 2018 is a national web-based research study devoted to media and technology, utilizing radio station databases. Within the last few years our annual Techsurvey was opened to all formats and we’ve ended up creating the largest research study ever conducted for radio. The study continues to grow larger each year with more radio stations signing up and more respondents participating. The 2017 survey once again made headlines by telling a new story about radio’s generations. It has been highly quoted throughout radio as well as by outlets such as eMarketer and Marketing Charts.

In last year’s CMB4 Techsurvey, we had 30 radio stations and two networks participate, generating almost 11,000 responses. Our goal is to make this year’s 2018 survey bigger and better than ever. It’s important to emphasize that the success of this project depends on the inclusion of a wide range of stakeholder stations. The more diversity of stations and the larger the sample, the more impactful the results will be for your station.

We need your station’s commitment no later than Thursday, June 7th.

There will be a stakeholder webinar presentation with CMB in summer 2018 as we deep-dive into the Christian format by generation, gender and other important factors.

We will also be presenting results at Momentum 2018 in September in Orlando.

Each participating station will receive its local results, along with its Media Usage Pyramid (often displayed in hundreds of cubicles, offices, and air studios throughout the U.S. and Canada). This is information that every programmer and manager needs to develop smart strategies that can capitalize on the opportunities presented by new media and technology.

Research topics will include tracking traditional media usage (TV, radio), as well as the impact of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc.). The goal is to help stations build their individual “Social Media Footprints” – the platforms most important to Christian radio audiences, and how to best connect with and engage with listeners in these important spaces.

We’ll delve into the two hottest topics – “smart speakers” (Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod) and podcasting/on-demand programming, as well as taking a deep dive into gadgetry (the digital dashboard, smartphones, tablets, etc.). Additionally, the survey will explore station related activities – in-car listening and the impact of the “connected car,” the growth of streaming, and the rise of mobile apps.

We will include format and value specific questions to help programmers better learn about some of the key issues facing Christian radio and what listeners think and value. Jacobs Media is inviting participating programmers to submit questions for possible inclusion, thus providing even more actionable information for your stations from this survey. What are the big questions you have for your Christian radio station specifically? Feel free to send your submissions to Jacobs Media’s Research Director, Jason Hollins at jason@jacobsmedia.com.

The Media Usage Pyramid (below) is a comprehensive way to understand some of the key findings of our studies. The Christian AC and CHR formats are contrasted in this graphic – one of the many ways in which we depict the data and help make it easy to understand and apply to your strategies.

Below are details about how stations, networks, and companies can participate in CMB Techsurvey 2018:

It will be fielded in early June 2018. We must have commitments for the survey no later than May 31, 2018. Jacobs Media handles all details of the study, and provides email copy and all technical aspects of participation. We will give you copy and a link that you email to your listeners – that’s it!

A small participation fee. We will survey your database (up to 700 completed interviews). You’ll receive your local market data, the total survey data, your format data, and your station’s media usage pyramid. You will also be able to participate in a participants-only webinar that reviews the key findings this Spring. Anyone from your station is eligible to attend. These rates are for CMB members and are identical to what we charge for our Public Radio Techsurvey and the all-format commercial study, and are the same as we charged last year. However, because this is a special survey, we are not allowing any stations to participate at no charge:

Market Size Cost

Large Markets (1-40) $500
Smaller Markets 41+ $400

The prices above are for CMB members only. Non-CMB members pay an additional $250 for the survey.

Networks: priced on an individual basis. Please contact us with questions.

Stations can register by clicking the button below to sign-up and fill it out for each radio station you would like to have participate. If you have a large number of stations (more than 5) you would like to register, please contact Lisa Riker directly via email (lisa@jacobsmedia.com) or call her at 248-353-9030 for discount information.

We’re very excited about continuing to grow this annual survey specifically for Christian broadcasters. We look forward to working with you and analyzing the current digital space, as well as creating the opportunity to track these changes over time.